Ex-official pounds IOC in letter

Former IOC marketing head Dick Pound says he had an "ethical responsibility"
to alert Olympic sponsors and broadcasters of his concerns regarding the International
Olympic Committee's commitment to reform.

Pound, a Canadian who has been the IOC's lead negotiator on sponsorship and television
rights deals for the last 15 years, resigned from that position last month after
a failed bid to become the IOC's president. He also resigned as head of the World
Anti-Doping Agency but later agreed to remain in that post until the end of the
year.

He sent a letter, dated July 24, informing Olympic sponsors and broadcasters
of his resignation and warning them that he has "grave concerns over the long term
future of the Olympic Movement."

In an interview last week, Pound said he could not continue representing the
IOC in sponsorship and broadcast rights negotiations because he could not guarantee
that the promises he made in the past would be fulfilled.

"I was the guy on the spot in the middle of the Salt Lake crisis," Pound said.
"During that time I made a promise to all the sponsors and broadcasters that we
would clean this up, and we would institute reforms. I would have hoped that I would
be in a position to deliver on that promise."

He said that since sending out the letter, he has heard from several sponsors,
both directly and indirectly, who share his concerns.

Pound came in third in the election for the IOC presidency last month with 22
votes. Winner Jacques Rogge received 59 votes, and South Korea's Un Yong Kim, who
was implicated in the Salt Lake bid bribery scandal, came in second with 23.

In his letter to Olympic business partners, Pound laid out observations about
the vote that he termed troubling. The first was that Rogge was the personal choice
of retiring IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch. Pound said that he has no personal
objection to Rogge, but that Samaranch was at the center of the controversy surrounding
the Salt Lake City scandal.

He said the runner-up, Kim, "was one of the two IOC members who received the
most severe warnings over improper conduct in the Salt Lake City scandals and whose
election tactics were criticized for similar reasons."

Rogge, who is from Belgium, declined to comment when asked about the Pound letter
at a news conference last week, but he made a firm declaration of the IOC's commitment
to the 50 points of reform that its members voted to adopt in 1999.

Olympic sponsors were also reticent on the issue, as most did not respond to
requests for comment.

The Coca-Cola Co., through a spokesperson, said, "Like any political campaign,
those involved often choose to interpret the results in various ways. ... We are
supportive of Jacques Rogge and his team."